March 7, 2005

What book best characterizes you?

This past weekend, we visited W. Lafayette. The area where Trish and I met. We heard an interesting story about a guy who gave his girlfriend a list of books to read to better know him. Kind of a silly thing to do but a nifty question at the same time. If you were to tell someone to read ONE book that best characterizes you, what would it be?

9 comments:

Anonymous
said...

One of the first books that came to mind for me was "Dante's Inferno" I didn't read it until I was at Northeastern University - almost 40 years old and it scared the bejesus out of me. I never gave Hell a second thought until I read that book and I was a believer! the other....

Harriet Tubman's "The underground railroad" - I still marvel at the courage and strength of that woman. It was also the first "real book" I ever read.

I know it's not exactly what you're looking for, but those two books had a huge impact on me. Not sure if I could be with someone who read those two and weren't impacted or moved in some great way...

The book most descriptive of me and my life is probably Richard Russo's Straight Man. However, there is another book that I am most glad I read, and most grateful that was written, and that is Thomas Paine's Age of Reason. This book gave me freedom.

dave, I am not sure if that comment was refereing to Karl and I. He gave me a list of books to help me better understand him as a person. The most important book he told me I could read not only to understand him but to help me grow as an individual is Ayn Rand Fountainhead. I have to say. It took me a year to finally read it with all that is going on, but he was right. He gave me perspective into his ideas and also has made me question my own decisions and thoughts. As for a book that would sum me up... I will still have to think about that one.

Take care and it was great to see you guys this past weekend. Hopefully it won't be as long till our next visit.

Hey Roxie,Actually it was referring to what KC was talking about during our ride to your (monstrous) mansion. I heard something about Ayn Rand during dinner but I was a little distracted during dinner and didn't hear the whole conversation. I tried reading Fountainhead many times and never made it to the end. (By the way, it was fun spending time with you guys by the way.)

Hmmmm...that's a tough question but thank you for asking; I'm flattered! If I read your question correctly, you want to know what book represents us rather than what book we love the most. The previous comments about Ayn Rand immediately called to mind her lesser-known novella, "Anthem". I agree with you about her other novels: you're pretty much guaranteed a paradigm-shifting experience IF you can slog through the discursive explosion (which most people can't/won't). "Anthem", on the other hand, is absolutely awe-inspiring. The whole novella is a perfectly-paced build up to two of the most passionately written pages in recent American literature. Actually, I almost hesitate to call it literature because the sociopolitical agenda is so strong...her work dances between propaganda and art. However, no matter how you classify it, this is one of the most personally resonant passages that I've ever read.